Childproof device

ABSTRACT

A childproof device including a closure access mechanism including a pair of sliding members arranged for sliding in channels formed in a housing, the housing being rotatably mounted about a pivot, each of the sliding members including a first mating device that faces radially inwards towards the pivot, a lock tongue rotatably mounted about the pivot, the lock tongue extending from a second mating device mounted about the pivot, and a biasing device positioned between the sliding members, wherein in a first position of the closure access mechanism, the biasing device urges the sliding members radially outwards away from one another along the channels such that the first mating devices do not engage the second mating device, and in a second position of the closure access mechanism, at least one of the sliding members is pushed radially inwards along at least one of the channels against the biasing device such that at least one of the first mating devices engages the second mating device, wherein turning of the at least one of the sliding members while the first and second mating devices are engaged with one another turns the lock tongue about the pivot.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to childproof closures, that is, a lock or closure that is difficult or impossible for a child to open, useful for protecting stored items, such as but not limited to, medicines and valuables.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many boxes, bottles and other closures are equipped with a childproof cover, lid, cap pad the like. Such devices include, for example, the familiar screw-on cap for medicine bottles, which must be pressed downwards when turning in order to be removed from the bottle.

One example of a childproof closure is that of PCT published patent application WO9748615, which describes a molded container with a childproof catch operable by a finger and thumb. The childproof container includes a box integrally molded from a plastic with a lid connected thereto by a plastically deformable hinge. An integrally molded childproof catch has a pair of arms extending into the box from the lid with barbs on the distal ends of the arms engaging corresponding barbs or ledges within the box. A user may insert his/her index finger and thumb through holes in the lid in order to disengage the barbs to open the box by squeezing the arms together against the action of an integrally molded biasing means.

European Patent EP 0837009 describes a reclosable package that has a removal aperture closed by a childproof lid with at least two locks acting with counter-locks in the lid receiver. The spacing of the locks is greater than the finger spread capability of a child's hand, and thus a child has great difficulty in opening the lid.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide a novel childproof device as is described in detail hereinbelow.

There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the invention a childproof device including a closure access mechanism including a pair of sliding members arranged for sliding in channels formed in a housing, the housing being rotatably mounted about a pivot, each of the sliding members including a first mating device that faces radially inwards towards the pivot, a lock tongue rotatably mounted about the pivot, the lock tongue extending from a second mating device mounted about the pivot, and a biasing device positioned between the sliding members, wherein in a first position of the closure access mechanism, the biasing device urges the sliding members radially outwards away from one another along the channels such that the first mating devices do not engage the second mating device, and in a second position of the closure access mechanism, at least one of the sliding members is pushed radially inwards along at least one of the channels against the biasing device such that at least one of the first mating devices engages the second mating device, wherein turning of the at least one of the sliding members while the first and second mating devices are engaged with one another turns the lock tongue about the pivot.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, in the first position, the housing freely turns about the pivot without engaging the second mating device. The first and second mating devices may include meshing gears. The biasing device may include one or more coil springs.

Further in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a clutch plate is added that includes a pair of opposing detents, arranged with respect to the sliding members such that if a first of the sliding members is moved towards the pivot and the other sliding member is not moved towards the pivot, then the first sliding member abuts against the detent and the first mating device of the first sliding member cannot mate with the second mating device, and if the other sliding member is also moved towards the pivot, then that other sliding member moves the detent so as not to impede the first sliding member and the first mating device of the first sliding member can mate with the second mating device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are simplified pictorial illustrations of childproof devices, constructed and operative in accordance with two embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a simplified cutaway illustration of a closure access mechanism of the childproof device, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a simplified pictorial illustration of a lock tongue of the closure access mechanism of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a simplified pictorial illustration of a clutch plate, useful with the closure access mechanism of the childproof device, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which illustrates childproof device 10, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Childproof device 10 may comprise a closure access mechanism 12 mounted on a box 14. Box 14 may be constructed of metal wire 16 and may include a lid 18 constructed of plastic. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, lid 18 may be hinged to the rest of box 14 and a carrying handle 20 may be provided. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, lid 18 may be latched to the rest of box 14 by one or more hand-releasable latches 22. It is appreciated that these are just two possible embodiments of the invention and the invention is not limited to these examples. Any kind of item may be stored in box 14, such as but not limited to, medicines, drugs, foodstuffs, valuables, etc.

Closure access mechanism 12 may prevent children from accessing the contents of box 14, as is now explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

Closure access mechanism 12 may comprise a pair of sliding members 24 and 26 arranged for sliding in channels 28 and 30, respectively, formed in a housing 32. Housing 32 may be rotatably mounted about a pivot 34. Each sliding member 24 and 26 may comprise a first mating device 36 that faces radially inwards towards pivot 34. A second mating device 38 may be also mounted about pivot 34. First and second mating devices 36 and 38 may comprise meshing gears, e.g., first mating device 36 comprising internal gear teeth and second mating device 38 comprising external gear teeth or vice versa.

As seen in FIG. 4, a lock tongue 40 may extend from second mating device 38, such that lock tongue 40 is rotatably mounted about pivot 34. Lock tongue 40 is seen partially in FIG. 3.

Referring again to FIG. 1, housing 32 may comprise an overlay portion 39 that overlays pivot 34. Overlay portion 39 may comprise two ridges 41 that extend along and over edges of channels 28 and 30.

Referring again to FIG. 3, a biasing device 42, such as but not limited to, a pair of coil springs on either side of pivot 34, may be positioned between sliding members 24 and 26. In a first position of closure access mechanism 12, biasing device 42 urges sliding members 24 and 26 radially outwards away from one another along channels 28 and 30, respectively, such that first mating devices 36 do not engage second mating device 38. In this first position, housing 32 may freely turn about pivot 34 without engaging second mating device 38. FIG. 3 illustrates sliding member 24 in the first position.

In a second position, sliding members 24 and 26 may be pushed radially inwards towards one another (as indicated by arrows 44) along channels 28 and 30, respectively, against biasing device 42, such that first mating devices 36 engage second mating device 38. FIG. 3 illustrates sliding member 26 in the second position. In this position, sliding members 24 and 26, together with the rest of housing 32, may be turned while first and second mating devices 36 and 38 are engaged with one another in order to turn lock tongue 40 about pivot 34. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, closure access mechanism 12 may be mounted in juxtaposition to lid 18 such that in the first position lock tongue 40 prevents opening of lid 18 (such as by catching on some inner portion of lid 18), and in the second position lock tongue 40 is rotated so as to permit opening lid 18.

Preferably, for childproof reasons, the force needed to work against biasing device 42 so as to engage first and second mating devices 36 and 38 is sufficiently great such that a normal child (e.g., the majority of children under the age of five) cannot overcome this force. Alternatively or additionally, the distance between the radially outer surfaces of sliding members 24 and 26 is sufficiently large such that a normal child cannot grasp them to squeeze them together. Such forces and distances are readily found in human engineering standards.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, it may be possible to engage first and second mating devices 36 and 38 on just one of the sliding members. For example, it may be possible to push sliding member 26 in the direction of arrow 44 so as to mate first mating device 36 with second mating device 38 and turn lock tongue 40 about pivot 34, without the first mating device 36 of sliding member 24 being engaged with second mating device 38.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which illustrates a clutch plate 50, which may be added to the embodiment of FIG. 3. Clutch plate 50 may be formed with a central aperture 52 so that it may be mounted over second mating device 38, behind sliding members 24 and 26 (in the sense of FIG. 3). Clutch plate 50 may comprise a pair of opposing detents 54, which may be symmetrical about pivot 34. Each detent 54 may be constructed of a base 56 resiliently extending from clutch plate 50, from which extend one or more chamfered surfaces 58 that terminate in an abutment face 60. Abutment face 60 initially is raised above the surface of clutch plate 50, but may bend towards the surface of clutch plate 50 and into a cutout 62 formed in clutch plate 50 about the contour of detent 54.

The addition of clutch plate 50 to the embodiment of FIG. 3 ensures that both sliding members 24 and 26 must be moved towards pivot 34 in order to engage first and second mating devices 36 and 38. The reason is that if sliding member 24 were to be moved towards pivot 34, sliding member 24 will abut against abutment face 60 of the upper detent 54 (upper in the sense of FIG. 5), and first mating device 36 of sliding member 24 cannot mesh with second mating device 38. The only way for sliding member 24 to move past abutment face 60 of the upper detent 54 is by additionally moving sliding member 26 towards pivot 34, whereupon sliding member 26 slides on chamfered surface 58 of the upper detent 54 and bends abutment face 60 downwards out of the way of sliding member 24. This permits sliding member 24 to continue moving towards pivot 34 so that the first and second mating devices 36 and 38 mate with each other. Likewise, the only way for sliding member 26 to move past abutment face 60 of the lower detent 54 is by additionally moving sliding member 24 towards pivot 34.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and subcombinations of the features described hereinabove as well as modifications and variations thereof which would occur to a person of skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not in the prior art. 

1. A childproof device comprising: a closure access mechanism comprising a pair of sliding members arranged for sliding in channels formed in a housing, said housing being rotatably mounted about a pivot, each of said sliding members comprising a first mating device that faces radially inwards towards said pivot; a lock tongue rotatably mounted about said pivot, said lock tongue extending from a second mating device mounted about said pivot; and a biasing device positioned between said sliding members, wherein in a first position of said closure access mechanism, said biasing device urges said sliding members radially outwards away from one another along said channels such that said first mating devices do not engage said second mating device, and in a second position of said closure access mechanism, at least one of said sliding members is pushed radially inwards along at least one of said channels against said biasing device such that at least one of said first mating devices engages said second mating device, wherein turning of said at least one of said sliding members while said first and second mating devices are engaged with one another turns said lock tongue about said pivot.
 2. The childproof device according to claim 1, wherein in said first position, said housing freely turns about said pivot without engaging said second mating device.
 3. The childproof device according to claim 1, wherein said first and second mating devices comprise meshing gears.
 4. The childproof device according to claim 1, wherein said biasing device comprises at least one coil spring.
 5. The childproof device according to claim 1, wherein said housing comprises an overlay portion that overlays said pivot, said overlay portion comprising two ridges extending along and over edges of said channels.
 6. The childproof device according to claim 1, wherein a force needed to work against said biasing device so as to engage said first and second mating devices is incapable of attainment by a majority of children under the age of five.
 7. The childproof device according to claim 1, wherein a distance between radially outer surfaces of said sliding members is greater than a span between a thumb and index finger of a majority of children under the age of five.
 8. The childproof device according to claim 1, further comprising a box having a lid, wherein said closure access mechanism is mounted in juxtaposition to said lid such that in the first position said lock tongue prevents opening of said lid and in said second position said lock tongue permits opening of said lid.
 9. The childproof device according to claim 8, wherein said box is constructed of metal wire and said lid is constructed of plastic.
 10. The childproof device according to claim 1, further comprising a clutch plate comprising a pair of opposing detents, arranged with respect to said sliding members such that if a first of said sliding members is moved towards said pivot and the other sliding member is not moved towards said pivot, then said first sliding member abuts against said detent and said first mating device of said first sliding member cannot mate with said second mating device, and if the other sliding member is also moved towards said pivot, then that other sliding member moves said detent so as not to impede said first sliding member and said first mating device of said first sliding member is matable with said second mating device. 